"What keeps you reading beyond the first few pages of a book, and what makes you want to stop reading a book and put it back on the shelf?"
For me, the writing needs to be really good right from the start. I can judge this in a page or less. Next, I'm looking at the storyline itself and the pacing of the story. Is the author efficient in his or her writing from the start or does it seem that the story is dragging? I stop reading a book if the writing is not up to my own personal standards, but assuming that it's written well enough I'll continue to read so long as the story is interesting and coherent, the characters are believable and relatable, and the topic is of at least some interest to me.
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What do you think? What makes you pick up a book and keep reading? What makes you put the book back down? Share your answer here or link up!
9 comments:
I think I"m more tolerant of the writing. I read a wide range of book, from middle school to adult, and sometimes I don't like the writing style. I'll still try to muddle through if it keeps my interest.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! Happy Reading!
Sue! What an awesome question! I can’t tell you what keeps me reading a book except the investment I give the story. I can tell you what will make me put a book back on the shelf, I have a few, and others I trudged through hoping they would get better. The ones I put down were too realistic, too stressful. They were about serial killers and I read to escape the stress of real life. They were well written books with engaging characters, one day I asked myself why am I reading this? I wanted to know how it ended, it just got too real! I read fantasy and romance now, I haven’t always, I liked nonfiction before. I don’t want to read about real stress, I live that. I want to escape into a fantasy, there can be stressful situations in them, somehow I seem to be able to remove myself from it and enjoy the story. Weird, huh?
Linda Mc
?wazithinkin
I think I understand you, Linda. I don't read the news very often, and I lean towards fiction for the reasons you mention. Not so weird!
Interesting question because it made me think as to why I simply cannot read certain books.
Stopping by via Crazy-For-Book's Blog Hop. I'm following your blog.
I'm having a giveaway on my blog this weekend so please stop by!
Holjo @ Pedantic Phooka
www.pedanticphooka.com
Thanks for stopping by, neer! I'm glad you enjoyed the question. I found it difficult to put into words what is really a gut reaction to a book.
PP, I'm following you back. Great blog!
NEW FOLLOWER.
VERY GOOD ANSWER. I usually give the book 50-100 pages.
Just wanted to stop by to look around.
Elizabeth
http://silversolara.blogspot.com
I have a giveaway going on at my blog if you want to stop by.
Thanks Elizabeth! Following you now too!
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